Turning back the times
by Justadraft
Summary: Kakashi gets sent back to the time when obito died. Can he save obito? what would happen if he did? Chapter 13 coming this weekend. Kakashi's existence is the talk of the town more trouble brewing as Obito tries to make sense of everything.
1. First meeting

The first thing Hatake Kakashi felt upon regaining consciousness was that huge migraine in his head. He had trained himself and prepared himself for injuries of any kind, but nothing prepared him for the pain he felt in his skull right now.

Well, not that he expected himself to fall through the sky. Or at least, that was what it felt like.

Kakashi allowed himself an audible groan as he struggled to comprehend what just happened to him. Despite what it had felt like, Kakashi was sane enough to realise that he couldn't have fallen through the sky. He last remembered taking a step back from the Konoha Shrine and losing his balance. What happened next, well, was this.

He took his mind of the situation for a moment, taking in his surroundings at once.

Kakashi saw that the soil was rough and uneven, with traces of overturned soil. His ears heard nothing at all, no birds singing, no cicadas chirping. His olfactory organs took in the faint scent of dried blood and they were not his. All this told Kakashi one thing – He was in a battlefield and definitely no longer in Konoha.

A few more minutes spent on finding clues to his whereabouts yielded nothing, even his Sharingan could not detect any Chakra nor any movement. Finally, Kakashi bit his thumb and performed a set of hand seals.

"Kushiyose no Jutsu" said Kakashi.

Nothing happened.

The usually calm and collected Jounin now broke into a sweat, re-performing the same seals.

"Kushiyose no Jutsu" Roared Kakashi.

Nothing happened.

"What's the bloody problem!" hissed Kakashi, cursing and swearing under his breath. Without Pakkun, Kakashi seriously felt intimidated. Resignation filled him as he started moving, breaking into a run as he flung himself through the forest.

At least I have chakra... thought Kakashi, flying through the dense forest at a superhuman speed. It was not long till he reached a bridge. But it was that same bridge that cast chills down the jounins spine.

"This is ..." exclaimed Kakashi, a horror on his face unlike those he had when he gets the latest series of Jiraiya-sama's Icha Icha novels.

Right in front of Kakashi was the very same bridge the Fourth Hokage, Rin and himself had destroyed 17 years ago. It was rebuilt ... no ... impossible, since the bridge's structure and been blasted to bits by his sensei and could not be rebuilt so identically. The sharingan also told Kakashi that all the materials were aged and not newly rebuilt.

Realisation struck Kakashi like a nail in his head. He had been teleported back 17 years.

Realisation of this fact brought back a myriad of dilemmas within Kakashi. His gut feeling was to run back to wherever Obito was, to save him, to save Rin. But he knew that doing so would change the world that he knew, and that doing so would not allow him to go through life with Obito anew. For one, he was a 30 year old man, whereas obito would be 13.

Hatake Kakashi was lost in his thoughts when a shuriken came whirling towards him, aimed at his head. Shocked, Kakashi swerved to the side, then dove into the shade of the trees.

Canine instincts took over Kakashi in a flash, as said ninja quickly analysed his situation. Whoever his enemy was, had totally disappeared from sight, leaving no traces of himself.

This was one strong shinobi and Kakashi didn't even get to take one look at him.

Time ticked by as Kakashi waited silently, comtemplating his actions. I can't summon Pakkun, so this fight is purely ninjutsu and taijutsu. Unless...

* * *

Hiding on the other side of the bushes was the one Konoha proudly called its "Yellow flash". Mastery of speed and teleport jutsus allowed him to seize even the strongest ninjas by surprise. 

The future hokage Arashi winced at his luck, knowing full well that this adversary was by far no piece of cake.

Damn... if only I can determine his location. The yellow flash of Konoha paused, readying himself. It seemed like he had to lure the enemy out by using himself as bait.

At the count of 3, he jumped out of his hiding place, revealing himself, as well as around 10 kunais, thrown at random locations. A quick set of hand seals instantly teleported this ninja between all 10 kunais, allowing him to detect enemies from all sides.

There! And he spotted his enemy, who by now was engulfed with fear which showed in his eyes, or right eye. That white hair and face...

Hatake Sakumo?

NO! Sakumo-dono had already died... this imposter! Anger raged within the ninja as he raced towards the other man. As quickly as lightning the two ninjas engaged in kunai combat, moving at such speeds that all one could see was the flashes of light.

Neither seemed to have the upperhand.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi was petrified with both fear and joy. Here was his long missed Arashi sensei, a solid proof that Rin and Obito must both be still alive. But this same sensei was attacking him, ready to cut him down at the tiniest sign of weakness. 

Kakashi had to make him stop.

Moments later, at the best opportunity available, Kakashi pulled his headband away from his left eye, revealing the sharingan. Now, Kakashi saw the world at a slower speed, and his sensei didn't seem quite fast as before.

As his student, Kakashi knew where his sensei's weakness was. Now with his sharingan, Kakashi could reach behind the other man and place a well aimed jab at his ... butt.

"Sennen Goroshi" Muttered Kakashi.

The resulting shriek was extremely unhokage-like.

Like it? this is a brand new effort into the world of naruto. Will feature other characters and pairings heh heh... R&R please  



	2. Clearing some doubts

Hiya all! This is the second chapter of this story. I've recieved some good comments! Thank you very much. R&R! Erm, its still early in the story, so the love parts are not out yet, but i'll be progressing ya... chapter 3 will officially start on obito's myriad of relationships, so don't go away!

The sun was setting by the time both men finally slowed to a stop on the ground. Golden rays cast long shadows upon the ground, and a gloomy darkness hung overhead. Deep somewhere within the forest bordering Konohakagure, two of the best ninjas said village ever produced were racing through the woods.

"So ... you're saying that you are the uncle of Kakashi-kun?" said the Yellow flash of Konoha.

Kakashi almost blushed on hearing that suffix – it had been 15 years since anyone called him that. Well, it wasn't exactly talking about him, but you get the idea.

"Yes. I'm also a Konoha ninja, you see." Replied Kakashi.

"That eye..." muttered the Arashi, scrutinizing Kakashi, not quite believing him yet. However, he did bear a striking resemblance to the Kakashi that Arashi had known. That eye was also definitely a true sharingan.

"Ah... nasty accident, I tell you. It was forcibly transplanted into my eye socket... 17 years ago." murmured Kakashi. It was not untrue; in fact, it was a condensed version of what had happened... what he failed to prevent. He went on to talk about the weather, the trees and a series of other totally unrelated topics.

"Arashi-sen ... sempai" said Kakashi, quickly covering up his blunder. "We must hurry, I sense..."

Arashi nodded, sensing a fight nearby. He signalled for Kakashi to move closer, then gave him a small piece of paper. On the paper were unknown characters that Kakashi recognised to be his sensei's teleportation jutsu.

"Stick this on him when you get close enough, I'll - "

"I understand," muttered Kakashi, stopping Arashi. He gave the other ninja one more signal and then rushed off, closing in towards the enemy. Reached the clearing, Kakashi doved between the branches, watching out for the combatants. He recognised Obito, his younger self, and the rock-nin that had blinded him.

His younger-self had already been slashed in the eye.

_But Obito is alive! _Thought Kakashi. That fact, was enough to send Kakashi's circuits into haywire. Without planning; which was extremely unlike Kakashi, he jumped out of his hiding place, revealing himself to the enemy.

"What!?" screamed the rock-nin Taiseki, startled by this new foe. He immediately stepped backwards, holding his hands up in a hand seal.

"Ninpo: Meisaigakure no jutsu"_  
_

"Its no use!" shouted Kakashi, whose kunai was already flying through the air.

There was a piercing shriek as blood splattered all over the rock wall.

The heat of battle was still in the jounin's mind when Kakashi heard an all too familiar voice call out to him. 

"Who are you?" voiced the younger Kakashi.

Kakashi stopped in his tracks, silently contemplating his next move, as well as berating his impatience. His zest to save Obito had caused himself to lose control over his actions, landing him in this situation stickier than the mud in Iwagakakure. Despite being an expert negotiator himself, Kakashi had neither plans nor ideas how to fix this situation. It was just too... weird.

That was probably the reason for the deathly silence that followed as Kakashi turned to face Kakashi.

The silence lasted for a second, but to both Kakashi(s) and Obito, it felt like forever. Old Kakashi felt fear, joy and other feelings he never knew he had. All five of his sharp senses turned dull as his eyes misted with tears that threatened to roll down his cheek...

* * *

Uchiha Obito could not believe his eyes. He had the insane urge for the 27th time this day to rub his eyes, but somehow he resisted. Standing right before him... was _the_ Hatake Sakumo, White Fang of Konoha. 

Obito had heard earlier that Sakumo had committed sepukku, but the man was standing there. The face and the eye and even the mask, were obvious clues of his identity. Even more amazingly obvious would be that immense Chakra and aura exuded by the shinobi standing in front of him.

Which was why he was extremely shocked when Kakashi dashed towards the older shinobi with Chidori in his hand.

"Chidoriiiiiiiiiiiii!" screamed Kakashi, but the older ninja ducked easily, and then used his elbow to connect with the younger ninja's ribs, sending him tumbling to the side.

"I'm not your enemy!" muttered the older Kakashi, also in shock.

"Good point. So who are you?" muttered Arashi, suddenly appearing, eyes slitted and brows frowed in a dark expression. Kakashi fumbled when he felt the bite of metal against his neck. He struggled, remembering how enemies died against his former sensei.

A wrong move... meant death.

"You have to trust me. I AM a Konoha shinobi. Things are extremely complicated, but I can sort it out when we get back to konohagakure."

"Like hell we're gonna let you into Konoha," shouted Obito, who was now tending to the injured Kakashi, "How do we know you're not a rock-nin in disguise?"

Kakashi let out a cold laugh, "Well. All I know is, you either believe me and let me speak to Sandaime-sama or we stay here for the next 5 hours and wait for Rin to die."

* * *

The rest of the day was uneventful, besides saving Rin and destroying the bridge. 

"Pity..." said Obito "I rather liked that bridge." The comment earned him a snort from young Kakashi.

The older Kakashi spent the rest of the journey with his hands binded with a triple layered handcuffing jutsu that Arashi had created. Kakashi walked slowly, allowing himself as much time to gain as much information as he could about his current situation. Not one inch of grass was left out as Kakashi scanned the area, as far as he could without incurring Arashi's suspicion. Both jounin had been talking on the way, but Kakashi withheld a lot of information, prefering to listen and gather clues from the talkative Obito and Rin.

Information he believed the even the Hokage wouldn't believe.

Which was why he was quite shocked when the Hokage had nodded and agreed.

"Well, you see, Kakashi... this is not the first of such events... It has happened before," enunciated the village leader, "I happened to have witnessed such an incident back when the First was Hokage."

Kakashi slumped and relaxed his shoulders. At least the Hokage believed him.

"Tea?" asked the Hokage, pouring a stream of boiling tea into a teacup, which he set before the sweating jounin. Kakashi thanked the Hokage and placed the cup to his lips.

"Sir!" An attendant came rushing in.

"A kunoichi is at the gates demanding to meet you. She has the Konoha forehead protector, but we do not recognise her."

"Oh?" muttered the Hokage. He casted a sideways glance at Kakashi and beckoned him forward to the table.

"Ninpo: Tomegane no Jutsu" Muttered the Hokage.

Kakashi's eyes widened as the clairvoyant crystal ball focused on a single pink-haired kunoichi...

Hmm? not much of a suspense ya, you all know who she is. So as promised, there will be sakura x obito for all you relationship junkies out dere. Hope you enjoyed! R&R!


	3. Prelude to the storm

Kyah! chapter 3 already. Inspirations been coming fast and furiously, and ive been writing way too much, haha...

Once again, thanks to all for your wonderful comments. I've ran this one through the spell check on word as well as with my friends, so it shouldn't have much mistakes this time. Just to tell ya, im using british english, therefore a whole bunch of words are kinda different from what you may be familiar with. V. Sorry.

Im currently having a term holiday here in S'pore hence the time to write and watch anime. Do support more anime guys! Once again, R&R.

* * *

Haruno Sakura could not believe what was happening to her. 

Earlier that morning, she had been swept away by what seemed to her like a tsunami that came from nowhere. She had then found herself rescued by a family who owned a snack shop, whom were kind enough to provide her with food and directions to Konohakagure.

A long trudge finally saw her at the gates of her home, but she was being barred from entry, by some people who saw fit to call her an imposter. To Sakura, they were the imposters. Gone were Kotetsu and Izumo, and in their place stood two unfamiliar ninja. Gone were the lively streets of Konoha, in its place were only few ANBU patrolling, fully armed and masked.

In fact, many of these same ANBU officers had came forth when the two gatekeepers tried to restrain her, and it took all Sakura had to keep herself free from their clutches and not harm them. A simple punch to the dirt would have killed most, but Sakura knew that she could not be so hasty.

Her patience was finally rewarded when a familiar face appeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Hey Sakura," called Hatake Kakashi.

Kakashi flashed an extremely fake one eyed smile to the Sakura, and then proceeded to explain to the gatekeeper for Sakura.

"Ah. She has been given clearance, Umeko-Chan!" cooed Kakashi flashing an even brighter smile.

It didn't work.

A punch to Kakashi's face left him flying over to land next to Sakura, who was (secretly) very impressed by the kunoichi's ability to withstand Kakashi's flirtation techniques. Most girls would fall prey to them, but then again, not all girls worshipped the Icha Icha series like Kakashi.

"Don't touch me... you ... you ... who are you?" hissed the gatekeeper Umeko, whose blushing face immediately turned a shade of bright purple.

Her initial disgust turned into confusion, then understanding and anger.

"You... another imposter!" Another punch connected, and Kakashi flew back another few metres.

Now all these were making Sakura's headache grow. Kakashi's appearance had been momentarily soothing, but the absurdity was beyond Sakura's comprehension. Kakashi's poor and fake acting was something Sakura had known since 5 years ago, but his letting the gatekeeper punch him without reaction was something she'll never expect.

It's like Kakashi was_ enjoying_ getting punched...

* * *

Kakashi had been overwhelmed with emotions since first realising what had happened, but this was way too much for him to take. He was overjoyed at meeting his old friends, and even letting them punch him was too reminiscing for him to feel pained about it. 

_Yes, this is the Umeko- neechan, I've always known... so quick to anger... yet so cute..._

The punches that rained on him were something he had always hated. Umeko-neechan never failed to land a flurry of punches on Kakashi whenever she saw fit to. But now, the punches felt like a trip down the memory lane.

"That's quite enough, Umeko," said a slow and calm voice. All ninjas turned to face the Hokage puffing on his pipe.

Haruno Sakura dropped to the floor, unconscious.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi was lying on his tatami, trying his best to fall asleep while he could. It was late in the afternoon, and definitely not the time to rest, but he had to leave for Iwagakure the next afternoon, hence needed as much sleep as possible. 

But he could not.

Closing his eyes was like triggering the image of Obito in his mind, slapping Kakashi, and calling him trash. It was the first time _he_ was called trash and not the other way around. Kakashi found no explanation for his running to save Obito. He could not understand why he did so. It was as if the pillars of his ninja way came crashing down, as if Obito's slap had cracked the long hardened steel wall that Kakashi had cocooned around himself since his father's death. The thought of placing friends before completion of the mission was once absurd, but now it seemed the most natural thing to do - the most natural thing he had done.

And softly, the 13 year old boy cried himself to sleep.

* * *

When she came to, Sakura found herself facing Kakashi-sensei, as well as her master Tsunade, both looking extremely concerned. She was lying on the familiar white cotton beds of the Konoha Hospital, and the scent of freshly picked daffodils wafted in the air. 

_I'm back at the hospital... it must have all been a dream..._

"Sakura-Chan? Daijobu? Take a rest. You are over fatigued," said Tsunade, smiling sweetly.

"If it's alright with you? Hokage-sama wants to speak with you about today," whispered Kakashi. Sakura noted that his hand had been bandaged, and his voice was laboured.

"No... Let her rest. That can wait," said the Godaime. "Sweety, just go ahead and sleep for the time being," Tsunade reached for the bedside window, drawing the curtains.

"No... no... I'm fine, Master. I can tell you everything now," said Sakura, propping herself up with a pillow. However, Tsunade had on her face an extremely confused expression, seeing which Kakashi quickly waved to Sakura.

"Ah... no," muttered Kakashi, speaking under his breath, "_This_ Hokage wants to you." Hatake Kakashi moved aside, revealing a 50 year old man puffing on a pipe.

Sakura almost fainted again.

It was after 3 hours that Sakura finally understood the seriousness of the situation. Both Kakashi and Sandaime-sama were patient and told her everything slowly, but it was still overloading her circuits. Understandable, considering this past was more than just alien to her, and considering the fact that she was but a 15 year old adolescent kunoichi whose biggest worries up to then had been nothing more than boys and her period.

_Even Akatsuki wasn't su__ch a big mess,_ thought Sakura, sighing deeply.

Kakashi seemed to know what she was thinking (as usual) for he nodded and said, "Well, super-villains are nothing compared to time travel, and I don't think even Uchiha Itachi could do this."

At the sound of that name, both Sakura and the Sandaime looked up in interest. The blood in Sakura's veins boiled, and revenge was the only thing in her mind. The prospect of removing Uchiha Itachi before he could harm the Uchiha clan was more than appealing to her.

"Uchiha Itachi... You mean the 4 year old boy genius?" asked the Hokage, puffing deeply on his pipe.

The cloud of tobacco smoke filled the air, and Sakura had to stifle a cough. To this, the Hokage smiled apologetically, but continued smoking anyways as he contemplated the situation. Despite not being told about the massacre, the Hokage's intelligence shocked Sakura when he deduced to them that something must have corrupted Itachi to "do something extremely evil, and then leave the clan". Kakashi merely raised a brow, and then nodded in agreement.

"I see... in that case, I have a mission for you Sakura."

* * *

Yep, thats all so far guys. What will Sakura's mission be? will it be action packed? 

Im sorry for being kinda late in the relationship department, but this chapter is more for the suspense and building up to the action part. I promise that the young kakashi and obito will return next week, and the relationship things will begin as promised. till then, ja na


	4. Preparations for battle

OH man! 4th chapter! AM I PROUD! )

This ones a tad too long, but i feel its the best of all 4 chapters, and i know you'll like it! Please R&R! Hope to get about 20 comments by the time 5 is updated. Onegai shimasu!

Thanks to all you people who have already given me their support, especially to Sakra-chan and KunoichruleALL

Cheers!

* * *

"Damn that stupid Sandaime... To hell with this bloody mission..." 

A string of colourful curses poured out of Inner Sakura, who by now had steam rising from her imaginary hair. On the outside, Haruno Sakura struggled to keep a dying smile on her face. After all, she was facing a bunch of young lively 4 year old boys and girls whom had nothing to do with her anger.

Like hell they hadn't!

Sakura had never been any good with kids and children, which was ironic since she was technically still under aged. As a toddler, she was frequently bullied and had long grown to dislike kids herself. To her, they were just small, annoying parasites who really knew how to kill moods and bring about serious headaches.

Especially during those rare times when Sasuke-kun was finally talking to her...

Which was why she almost fainted for the 3rd time that day, when the Sandaime Hokage asked her to take care of a class of twenty for the next few hours. Sakura had wanted very much to refuse, but the Hokage managed to twist his way around the situation by telling her that this was her opportunity to "influence Itachi-kun as much as she could".

On hindsight, this arrangement was probably to free another shinobi to battle at the frontlines. The war had taken out far too many shinobi, and Konoha needed as many shinobi as possible. Sakura herself was no stranger to war, but the Sandaime didn't know that.

"Haruno-Sensei..."

The voice snapped Sakura out of her daze, and she turned to face a 4 year old Uchiha Itachi.

"Can you teach me how to do genjutsu?"

That sudden request shocked Sakura out of her wits. Here was the greatest genjutsu user in the world asking her to teach him? Sakura didn't know whether to feel honoured or angry.

"Aren't you a little... young to do genjutsu?" said Sakura, genuinely concerned.

The little boy shook his head, and then told a blank-faced Sakura that he already knew a little ninjutsu.

_No wonder he's so good..._

That said, Sakura still remembered her mission. It was to prevent Itachi from becoming what he was destined to be.

No matter how youthful he was, no matter how ... there's no other way to put this ... _cute_ he was, Sakura could only refuse, then send him back to his seat as she continued to explain to the rest of the class the basics of camouflaging.

* * *

There was a saying in Konoha that one's true personality was most obvious depicted in whatever he did in the hour right before setting off on a mission. Whether one was a coward, brave, or simply foolhardy, could be inferred from the things he did in that one hour. 

An hour to noon, Rin Inuzuka was busy plucking healing herbs in her very own spice garden, as well to tend to her nin-ken partner, kimidori. To Rin, missions most definitely meant bloodshed, and thus she had to prepare a supply of revitalising medicine.

This time however, Rin also plucked a sachet full of Groundweed, which was meant for Kakashi's recovering eye.

_I hope Kakashi-kun will be fine...__Master Tsunade did operate on the eye..._

Rin smiled.

* * *

On the other side of Konoha sat a large old-styled mansion, situated not far from the Hyuuga's abode. Somewhere within this large Hatake abode sat Hatake Kakashi, silently sitting in front of his father's memorial tablet. 

It had been long since he last sat here. Cobwebs littered the room, and the musty air would have knocked Kakashi out if not for that mask of his.

After the funeral, Kakashi had never once come back, silently believing that it was indeed his father's mistake that deserved punishment. But after having a piece of Obito's mind, especially the part where Obito expressed his indignant support for his father's decision, Kakashi had been swayed.

It was unlike him to not be prepared for the mission. Normally, like just 2 days ago, a mission meant that he would have been sitting on his tatami, polishing and sharpening his kunai and wrist guards. Any remaining time would have been devoted to the practice of his blade wielding, with that white chakra blade his father had been so proud of.

Doing anything else would be a pure waste of time ... wasn't it?

"So did your father do the right thing?"

Kakashi froze.

He had not sensed the enemy... this was no ordinary foe.

"Maybe," replied Kakashi. He had to play along with this enemy, for the enemy had the advantage.

Stretching ever so slightly, Kakashi moved his arm forward.

"How's your eye."

"Fine, thanks for asking." _Just a bit more_ "Maybe I could interest you with some snacks?"

At the last word, Kakashi swung backwards, releasing 3 shurikens from the holster he had laid front of him.

There was dull 'thunk' as all three shruikens were deflected off a wrist guard.

_His _wristguard.

"You again?!" shouted Kakashi, readying another 3 shurikens.

The 30 year old Hatake Kakashi looked at his younger incarnation and smiled.

"Hey, you might want to put those down. I come in peace."

"And go in pieces."

Kakashi flashed a wider smile.

"Getting smart here are we?" He stood up and paced towards the memorial.

With a sigh punctuated with years of heartache, Kakashi knelt down beside his younger self, and kowtowed towards the dusty picture of his father.

"Wha... What are you doing..."

Kakashi turned, expressionless save for that impassive eye of his.

"I know you have a lot of questions. I cannot answer them now, but some day, you will understand. For now, I can only ask for your forgiveness and trust."

He stood up.

"Oh, and I agree with Obito. Hatake Sakumo did the right thing."

Kakashi disappeared, leaving an extremely confused 13 year old boy in alone in the musty room.

* * *

45 minutes from noon, the Uchiha district in Konohagakure was bustling with life. Partially because it was the headquarters for the Konoha Police Corps, and partially because busy parents were readying themselves to fetch their children.

In a certain house on the edge of the district, Uchiha Obito was in his room... sleeping?!?!

"Obito!?" shouted his mother, "Hurry up and wake already! Uncle Fugaku asked you to fetch Itachi, didn't he?"

" Five more minu..."

There was a loud "Thump", as Obito fell to the ground, blankets and all.

"Owie!," moaned Obito, rubbing his eyes as they started to itch. He reached for his eyedrops and googles, upending a few other various bottles as he got them.

He looked at the alarm clock.

" 11.15! Mum, why didn't you wake me," screamed Obito, who by now was trying to fit into his jacket, wash his face, and finish his toast at the same time.

"I did, honey, but you..."

A gust of wind blew into the apartment.

* * *

A 5 minutes dash saw Obito at the gates of the Konoha ninja academy, where Itachi was waiting together with a single girl. Obito sighed. He was late by 20 minutes. 

"Naruto?" asked Haruno Sakura. Her face lit with delight as she jumped over to hug Obito.

Itachi stared.

Obito struggled for air as Sakura almost crushed his ribs with that insane strength of hers. He didn't know whether to shout for mercy or to enjoy this heavenly weight that was bearing down on his chest.

"Your... brea...sts..."

Sakura stopped immediately, then looked down to see that Obito's flailing arms somehow make their way onto her own chest. Anger and embarrassment overcame her as she landed an chakra-supercharged punch on Obito's chest, sending him flying 20 metres back.

"Eh? You're not Naruto?"

* * *

RIP : Uchiha Obito 

Murdered by fair maiden Haruno Sakura

LOL... no la. Once again, I feel this is my best so far, so i hope everyone can R&R. Im hoping to get 20 reviews, if it isn't too many. You may also want to point out any errors, and constructive criticism is welcome. Cheers


	5. Setting off

5th chapter.

Really tired. theres hw to do, and stuff to finish. my hols will end in about 2 weeks, and b4 then i have chalet stays with my class, hence ill be updating quite irregularly. But hold ye horses. I'll commit meh self to update once a week, so dont worry. If i don't, then im REALLY suffering from an bad case of writer's block, which fortunately has not hit me yet.

A friend told me that if i was going to delve any deeper into an ecchi relationship between obito and sakura ( see previous chapter), im really gonna haveta change it to rating T im not really sure, so guys, please tell me if you junkies want something on a k+ level or ... slightly more spicy... heh heh heh

Once again, i'll like to express my appreciation for ALL your wonderful comments and reviews. Please continue to R&R. They really keep me going!

* * *

Uchiha Obito cringed as he felt the pain in chest again. Whenever he tried to sit up, his ribs felt as though they were going to crumble into dust.

Lying down wasn't so bad, actually, especially since he had a beautiful (or at least, slightly pretty) girl healing him at the same time. Obito noted that she was slightly older than him, about 15 if he wasn't wrong, and had around her a slight feminine charm.

"Uhm, I'm really sorry. I mistook you for my friend. You look like him allot," said the girl, with an apologetic smile on her face.

Obito's heart melted, along with the rest of his initial anger.

"It's ok... ahh..."

"Eh? You're really strong you know. Most people would scream when I press their abdomen like this, not to mention after taking that hit," said the girl, pressing experimentally against his stomach area.

"Hmm, wha?" Obito jolted back from his momentarily daze, and then screamed as the girl pressed forcefully around his already bruised tummy.

Obito learnt quickly, albeit painfully, that her name was Haruno Sakura. It was strange, but he couldn't help noticing how she kept stealing glances at his face.

_Am I that attractive?_

Obito smiled. He was glad to know that at least some girl appreciated him, and not none, like Kakashi had suggested every other day they met. That said, Obito rather it be Rin that looked at him with such eyes.

Sakura may be stealing a peek, but it was Rin who had stolen his heart.

* * *

Haruno Sakura couldn't help but take yet another glance at the boy beside her. She knew he wasn't Naruto, but the likeness was too appalling. 

_Not to mention they're both perverts._

At the same time, learning that Obito was an Uchiha was something that quite upset her.

Not because she missed him terribly ( now that he was a big mean idiot ) but because she had never met an Uchiha who wasn't either Sasuke or Itachi. Sakura knew only too well that turning back in time would mean the revival of the Uchiha clan, she simply wasn't mentally prepared. Well, not that anyone could wake up to expect themselves thrown 17 years backwards.

Also, on a slightly prejudiced point-of-view, Sakura had always expected Uchihas to be cool and dashing like Sasuke. It didn't occur to her that there could be Naruto lookalikes in the clan.

Sakura sighed. This trip back in time had brought about too many surprises and revelations. It seemed every corner she turned brought about new surprises or shocks, which was literally what happened when the trio turned into the Uchiha district.

Sakura stood dumbfounded.

Unlike the other streets on the main sector of Konoha, the Uchiha district was bustling with life. It seemed as though the Uchiha clan was wholly unperturbed by the war that was raging just beyond the borders.

"Well, we _are_ the backbone for the village's security." Said Obito, evidently proud of his heritage. Even the 4 year old Itachi expressed the same pride, pointing to the headquarters of the 'Konoha police Corp'

"My father works here! He's the guy who catches all the baddies!" exclaimed Itachi, who took off immediately into the building, totally ignoring Obito and Sakura.  
(A/N: oh the irony)

"Well, he's like that, the brat. Always runs off without warning. One of these days he's gonna leave Konoha without tell the rest of the clan. Ha-ha"

Just then, Sakura jumped as she spotted her sensei standing by the side, head buried in his Icha Icha Paradise.

"Yo," Kakashi raised a hand in greeting, not lifting his eye from the novel, evidently very much engrossed.

Sakura quickly excused herself and then went to meet her sensei, as Obito walked home alone. It was not till Obito left did Kakashi lift his head and talk to Sakura.

"Long time no see, did you miss me?" asked Kakashi, an extremely plastic smile on his face.

Sakura resisted punching her sensei, and then asked, "I've already taken care of Itachi for one day. Does Hokage-sama want anything else?"

"Well, nothing more with Itachi, as of now," said Kakashi, slamming his novel shut, "Hokage-sama wants to meet us. Let us hurry."

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, the duo passed the mostly empty streets of Konohagakure, then came to a stop on the red tiled building in which the Hokage resided. Knocking politely, they entered the Hokage's office

"Ah. Sakura and Kakashi. I've have missions for you two." said the Sandaime. He took a final puff on his pipe before setting it down on the table; folding his hands before himself such that they covered his face save for his eyes, which stared straight at the two.

"Haruno Sakura, you shall join team four on their mission. Mission details will be briefed by the Squad leader. Meet the team at 1230 hours by the main gate."

Adding in a softer tone, the Hokage said, "I trust you find the team quite familiar."

There was a sparkle in the old man's eye.

* * *

"You're late." 

The boy nodded, and then adjusted his headband.

"I was ... helping a grandmother cross the road." Said Hatake Kakashi, attempting a rather futile smile.

It was his first smile in ages. His facial muscles ached from the effort.

"Well, never mind!" exclaimed Uchiha Obito, breaking into a wide smile and slapping Kakashi on his back, "Everyone can be tardy once in a while!"

"This is my first time, mind you... I'm not like you... late 99 of the time," grunted Kakashi.

"What! I was trying to be friendly ... you!" Obito screamed, his wide smile disappearing.

"It's true isn't it?"

"But... but"

"Alright, don't fight, both of you"

"Rin-Chan! Stop spoiling that little brat."

Arashi smiled. His team was finally starting to come together.

"Now, where are those girls again?" Arashi thought. But apparently, he had articulated his thoughts, for the 3 of his students quietened down immediately, and stared at their sensei enquiringly.

"EH?" stammered the Konoha yellow flash, scratching his head innocently.

"Well? Aren't you going explain yourself, Arashi-sensei?" asked Rin.

"Um... alright. From yesterday on, Kakashi is a Jounin, yes?"

The trio nodded. Kakashi swore that he heard a scowl coming from Obito.

"The Hokage has requested that we field 2 other kunoichi, so as to make this a 6 man team. When needed, we'll split into units of 3 each."

"Now, what were their names again?"

"Haruno Sakura, reporting for duty!" Saying which, the girl leapt down from a nearby tree and landed next to the 3 three of them.

"Sakura-Chan?" asked Obito, who waved and beckoned the kunoichi to his side.

"Oh, you've already met? In that case Sakura can go with your group. Rin will stay with Kakashi." Arashi stated, with a matter-of-factly expression on his face.

"What!?! I...I don't know this girl, I just ... her name ... ugh," Obito sighed dejectedly. He knew only too well that there was no changing his sensei's mind once he made his decision.

"Hey... what's wrong with having me here?" asked Sakura, feeling extremely insulted.

_He's just like that idiot Naruto!_

"Nothing... it's just you ... Rin ... Ah mou..." hollered Obito, clasping his hands over his goggles.

_No... He's__ worse than__ that idiot Naruto! _

Obito was sent flying for the second time of the day and this time Sakura was not apologising.

Arashi could only smile weakly...

There was a pregnant pause as Obito slowly clambered back up, supporting his stomach with both arms. Rin wanted immediately to run to his side, but Kakashi placed his hand on her shoulder, telling her not to do so.

When Obito finally made his way back to their ranks (standing next to Kakashi this time), The Jounin took a deep breath, and continued, "Right. The next one would be ..."

"Yamanaka Umeko, reporting for duty!" She leapt down from another nearby tree and ... slipped, falling face first in front of the assembled team.

Umeko stood up, and then positioned herself on the other side of Kakashi and then gave said ninja an obligatory whack on his head.

Kakashi sighed. This was going to be a looooooong mission.

* * *

Yep. Thats gonna be one long mission for me to complete. I'm already finishing up that mission part ( in preparation for the reopening of school), but its not really coherent yet, thus ill still have to do some changes b4 i can show it to you people.

As a note, im just want to say that the obitoxsakura thing is developing, but ill like to keep it at a more realistic level, so im not gonna have them jump on each other any time soon. heh. Im currently basing it on the same level as the narutoxsakura relationship in the real shippuden, which is kind sweet, in my opinion. It'll grow, i assure you. mmm

Till then! R&R


	6. Endless Enemies

Chapter 6!

This is one that I've enjoyed writing, partially due to the fact that it contained battle scenes (yippee) and partially because I've already had this idea in mind when I started chapter 1. To see it come to fruition is extremely cool, and Im sure you noe what I mean.

I'm taking a break after this, because of a school (class) gathering, but I'll be back, so stay tuned. Thanks to everyone who has already reviewed, it really means allot. That goes especially to Sakra-chan who has reviewed every chapter since 1, bows

* * *

Hatake Kakashi yawned, stretching his arms over his head as he struggled to keep awake. As he continued flipping the book before him, he couldn't help but let his eyes stray all over the page. 

It wasn't like him to be so restless and tired, especially when a book was laid in front of him. He could barely concentrate now, and his eyelids were threatening to close. Finally, Kakashi couldn't take it anymore. He lay down the 5 kilogram heavy archive onto the table, then stood up and walked across the room. Stifling another yawn that was rising up his throat, Kakashi looked out of the window to view the night sky. It looked very different indeed, 17 years from now.

Despite using his Sharingan to make things easier, the archive was still amazingly hard to comprehend, and it seemed endless. Ironic, especially since the archive _was_ about the Sharingan and its powers.

Kakashi silently wondered if it was those pictures of the Sharingan eyeballs that were lulling him to sleep.

Kakashi was at the Konoha Archival Library, researching on possible reasons for Sakura's and his teleportation back 17 years. Of course, he would rather be reading his Icha Icha Paradise, but duty required him to concentrate on his research.

No, not a _duty._

It was a _need._

As stupid as it may seem, Kakashi was actually yearning to return back to the future. Sure, he may have been going to the memorial every day, hoping to meet Obito again, but now that he had done so, it didn't seem as self-satisfying as it had appeared to be.

For one, he may have saved Obito, but he was stuck in his 30 year old body. The thought of a 30 year old uncle hugging a 13 year teen for no good reason was not exactly the most appealing.

Secondly, Kakashi had long left his past behind. There was no point in digging up skeletons from the past, but here he was, and with no apparent way to return.

Last of all, he had already a fair share of the third shinobi war, which was in NO way, a fun affair. What for did he save Obito again, if Obito could die again anytime?

Kakashi exhaled deeply, returning to the table.

He had to find a way back. _Definitely._

Just then, a line in that book caught Kakashi's eye, which grew so large it seemed to be swelling.

"This is ...!"

* * *

The six shinobi leapt slightly from tree to tree, never stopping, never resting. It had been five hours since they left Konoha, and were now close to Iwagakure's borders, which meant that enemies were close to them, ready to strike. 

They moved silently, and the only sign of their presence was the lengthening and shortening of shadows they left in their wake.

Of these six, one was feeling terribly out of place. It wasn't because she lacked any battle experience; in fact for the past month she had been, many a times, drawn into life-and-death battles with enemies whose names were permanent fixtures in the bingo books of all the hidden villages.

That is, till she killed them.

It wasn't because she was intruding into a group that had moulded themselves together over the last 5 years. Again, she was no stranger to such an arrangement, for she had to stick with other groups during the absence of Sasuke and Naruto.

It was because ... that silver haired boy had reminded her uncannily of Kakashi-sensei.

Because he was flanked next to her, Sakura was able to see that he was wearing a facial mask not unlike her sensei's.

_But that forehead protector..._

Unlike her sensei however, this boy wore his protector straight, and Sakura saw that he did not possess the Sharingan.

_Whoever said that the Sharingan was Kakashi-sensei's to begin with..._

Sakura allowed her mind to run wild, thinking of ways any non-Uchiha would come to possess an eye.

_Did Kakashi... was he the one responsible for killing the Uchiha clan!_

The thought was so bizarre and crazy, that Sakura forgot for a moment that it had been Itachi who had stained his hands exterminating his clan.

_No... It wasn't that. Kakashi didn't do it._

Suddenly, she found herself face to face with the silver haired teen, who had veered next to Sakura when she was not looking.

"Wha...What!" questioned Sakura, feeling extremely uncomfortable due to the sudden lack of space between them.

The boy didn't seem to feel the same way, for he continued to stare at Sakura.

"You... want water?" he asked, reaching into his backpack.

And without waiting for a response, without looking at Sakura's bewildered face, he pulled out two kunai from the backpack, and sent them flying past Sakura into the forest.

Two brief moans told Sakura that his throwing knifes had met their targets, as the whole party stopped in their tracks, the leading Jounin sending 3 other shurikens on their way.

Those, too, made contact as 3 enemy shinobi fell to the forest bed.

There was no time for Sakura to feel unhappy at her incompetence to sense the foe, for she too, spotted enemies lurking around them.

"Spread out. In twos." Was the only command they got, but it was all the command they needed.

Each of them paired with the nearest friend, and raced off into the night. Sakura partnered the silver haired teen, who didn't bother to acknowledge her presence. Instead, he pulled out more weapons, unleashing them towards their hidden foes.

The silence was broken.

Metal clashed against metal, or sometimes flesh, as more and more shinobi fell to the ground. Sakura noted that some were younger then themselves, but could find no time for pity as she dispatched another shinobi.

_It's either them, or us.  
_

* * *

Arashi was in no ways losing to his foe, but even a ninja of his calibre would have troubles against wave after wave of ninjas. Worse, it seemed that their numbers were increasing.

_Bunshins?_

Arashi remarked at how none of the ninjas evaporated, melted, crumbled or turned into smoke as they fell towards the ground. The Jounin could not find any traces of cosmetic jutsu as he scrutinised a body at the top of the heap.

_Genjutsu?_

Arashi let loose a few bursts of his chakra, aimed at his surroundings, but nothing happened. Obito must have thought the same, for Arashi saw how the chunin clasped his hands together and gathered chakra to break the genjutsu, but again nothing happened.

Arashi sweat-dropped. This was either a crazily high levelled genjutsu, or simply the enemy throwing ranks and ranks of shinobi at them.

Either ways, it was trouble.

Taking in a deep breath, Arashi stuck his hand into his pouch, drawing a few triple pointed kunai. He performed a few sets of hands seals, and then unleashed them into the surroundings...

The world seemed to slow down in an instance.

His left hand still poised in the seal of the tiger, Arashi freed his right hand, which now had ten shurikens palmed and ready. A flick of his thumb sent one flying, and another and another, as Arashi kept up his teleportation between the moving kunai.

As the world slowed around him, Arashi could see that their enemies were often just in their teens, some even younger than his team.

_This wasn't good._

Arashi kept this up for the next ten seconds, dispatching hordes of enemy shinobi as he flickered between the still airborne kunai. He was glad to see that his charges were still very much alive, though he noted how Rin, Obito and that new pink haired girl had already sustained injuries of varying degrees.

As he came to a halt, Arashi motioned to the five to gather. It was disturbing how his jutsu seemed to do no good, as more enemies clambered over their fallen brethren to reach the six.

"What's the rock's problem... they have too many children to spare?" shouted Obito.

"It's a genjutsu," gasped the pink haired kunoichi, struggling to catch her breath.

Arashi nodded, "and a high levelled one, we'll need all our chakra."

The rest of them agreed, and all six pressed their palms together, channelling chakra to form an invisible barrier of chakra. The barrier first enveloped them, and then expanded outwards, destroying all the 'shinobi' that came into contact.

Before long, the forest had returned to its previous tranquillity.

Opening his eyes, Arashi and the team came face to face with

"SASUKE?"

* * *

Mwahahaha.. major plot movement! What did Kakashi discover, and what was Sasuke doing here! 

For those who already expected Sasuke to be in this story, well done! After all, you cant have Sakura and Kakashi come back in time and not expect the rest of team 7 to follow. Whether Naruto and Sai come along is another matter though.

Once again, please R&R! Till next time!


	7. Sharingan

Chapter 7. Enjoy!

Continue to R&R people!

* * *

Hatake Kakashi shuffled out of the Konoha library, in his arm were clasped a set of notes, which he had copiously copied from the huge archive. A sweat rolled down his right brow as the Jounin leapt into the sky, heading towards the Stone faces of the 3 Hokages.

He had to get to the Sandaime.

_Now._

Which was why Kakashi almost groaned out loud when he bent forward to avoid a shuriken aimed at his face.

Kakashi had been too late. His return to the present would have to wait.

The Jounin jumped into an empty veranda, avoiding a flurry of shurikens, all of which were aimed at his head. He stuck two fingers into his shuriken holster and pulled out a kunai, which he used to deflect the incoming 'missiles'.

It took only a second for Kakashi to spot the enemy's weakness, which he exploited, with a kunai aimed at the rock-nin's blind spot. The exploding tag on the kunai exploded (duh) killing the enemy and the rest caught in the blast.

Around him, the most of the patrolling ANBU and ninjas were already engaged in combat. Dead corpses, most of them Rock-nin, lay strewn over the roads as throwing knifes flew freely in the night sky.

Night raids were an integral part of war, and they had various advantages and disadvantages.

The greatest advantage was definitely catching the people by surprise. Most ninjas would have been asleep, hence the opportunity to take their lives with least resistance. Unfortunately for the invading army, the Hokage had already anticipated this, and most of the ANBU were ready at moment's notice as the rock-nin clambered past the barriers into Konoha.

Hatake Kakashi was soon flanked by two other shinobi, one of whom he recognised.

Inwardly, Kakashi suppressed a laugh as he raised his hand to greet his favourite author in Konoha.

"Jiraiya-taichou, your troops are at ready," called the other leaf-nin.

"Right. Have them rendezvous with me at the west gate. We'll crush them before they enter!"

The leaf-nin saluted, and then dropped behind to catch the rest of the group. Seeing the man disappear, Jiraiya moved closer to the other man.

"Kakashi. It's nice to see you."

Said ninja flinched, and felt a cold fire race down his spine. _How did... Jiraiya-sama __know_

Jiraiya winked, and then said, "I'll take care of the main defence. You better go meet old Sarutobi."

He winked again, and then plunged downwards, right palm thrust outwards.

"Kushiyose no Jutsu!"

Screams were heard everywhere as a humongous toad appeared from the sky, flattening most of the enemy shinobi, and blocking the main gates.

Hatake Kakashi took the opportunity, and turned in midair, launching himself towards the other direction. The notes still firmly tucked under his shoulder, Kakashi raced past the fighting ninjas, headed towards the Hokage's office.

He was acutely aware of three pursuers, and they appeared highly skilled at that, being able to avoid the barrage of throwing weapons aimed them.

_This is bad. They might just end up at the Hokage's office as well._

Kakashi sighed. To his left stood the Konoha Hospital, while to his right was the Ninja academy.

He would have to take care of the three after all.

* * *

Haruno Sakura's heart pounded heavily and rapidly, causing an ache in her chest cavity. Her breathing became short and laboured, and air entered her lungs in sharp bursts that threatened to stop any moment.

Silently, she cursed under her breath, angry at how years of training didn't seem to help her one bit. Sakura once chided Hinata for being unable to stand up straight in the presence of Naruto, but she was the one who could hardly focus.

It was not like Sakura loved him anymore, not like she ever did. Ever since the two most important males in her life left Konohakagure, each to further his skills; Sakura had found ways to stem the heartache she felt every so often, until they never appeared again. Even as she met the two again, Sakura had already left her childish crush far behind, and saw them in a new light, Naruto a rival and Sasuke an enemy.

Yes, she had tried her hardest to locate Sasuke, together with both her team and Hinata's, but Sakura had long established that she was finding him only to bring him back to the village. The possibility of a relationship had occurred to Sakura as she met Hebi, but she forced herself to wait till Sasuke returned to their side – which never happened.

Which was why she struggled to understand the heartache that now revisited her once more.

"Sakura..."

Said kunoichi snapped out of her daze, then faced Sasuke, whom Sakura saw had activated his Sharingan. The ruby pupils stared straight at Sakura for a moment, and Sakura could have sworn that there was a hint of apology in those same pupils.

Then...

Sakura flinched as she felt Sasuke's strong palm press against her shoulder, holding her securely in place, rooting her to the floor. She tried to move, but he was too fast, too strong. The katana was already poised high in the sky, the dim moonlight reflected by the flawless blade...

Fresh blood splattered across the Kusanagi as it was driven into flesh...

It was another moment before either of the two realised that it wasn't Sakura's blood that stained the blade.

_The blood... this __is..._

Rin screamed.

A second pair of Sharingan eyes glowed in the midnight.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi's head hurt. A lot.

He sighed inwardly, acknowledging the strength of the two rock-nins the stood before him. Kakashi had already dispatched one, but the remaining two fought stubbornly.

_They must be jounins too..._

Worse, Kakashi was giving ground, and he felt himself inching backwards. Towards the hospital.

Images of injured ninjas, young and old, filled Kakashi's mind. The hospital was especially packed at this time due to the war, and beds were almost fully occupied.

Kakashi would know. Back in _his time_, at the present moment, he had been lying in one of those beds, thoroughly washed out by the overuse of his Sharingan for the first time.

_Desperate times call for desperate measures_, thought Kakashi, pulling his forehead protector over his head.

The two enemies gasped when they saw the Sharingan.

* * *

Well, I'll like to announce that I'm no fan of Sasuke myself. (Hears some hurrahs and some curses), so I'll won't have him become the main character of the story. Emphasis will still be placed between Kakashi, Kakashi and Obito.

But I'm just gonna say that I don't discredit any Naruto characters, except maybe Orochimaru ( I was cheering when I heard Sasuke killed him), even Akatsuki is cool, in my opinion. As such, you can probably guess that I won't kill Sasuke in the near future. He is part of the story plan, and I already have something planned out for him.

Once again. Thank YOU for all the great reviews. Im really happy to see all of them, and I hope to get more and more reviews!

Till next time, ja ne!


	8. Revelations

Chapter 8.

Ok. This has been a seriously BAD writer's block. Im confused, and have thrown away 5 drafts of this one. Im kinda torn between kakashi's fight/ arashi's fight/ obito's recovery and relationships. I wanted to start this with Sasuke, but it was too crappy - i have one where Sasuke is hedonistic, but i don't think he is... Either ways, this is definitely not as satisfactory as i would have liked, although i assure you two major plot twists are coming, so this is just a bridging between the gaps.

On the other hand, school's started here in s'pore, and im busy to the max. Theres tons of hw, compliments of my teachers and i can't find much time to write, but ill keep updating, please be patient. meanwhile, thanks for your reviews. keep em coming!

* * *

From what Hatake Kakashi could see, half of Konoha was already in shreds; houses became planks and clouds of sawdust. To his side the academy had received a substantial amount of damage, but Kakashi knew by 'experience' that its occupants had long since been evacuated.

But the hospital was not.

For a simple reason. The hospital occupants were mostly in life threatening situations that required active treatment, even if walls were being wrecked around them. Those who didn't had been evacuated, but that still left at least a hundred ninja with various life threatening injuries, and along with them the medical staff who were administering the treatment.

Of course, many of the defending ninjas had already gathered around the hospital building, fending off the rock-nin who had entered the area. So far it seemed they did a good job, and Kakashi saw from the corner of his eye that the interior of the building was very much intact.

Kakashi swore once more as a kunai almost hit him. He had to stop thinking about the hospital.

At this point in time, the three Jounin enemies had been cut down to one, thanks to Kakashi's superior battle skills. But this last one was different; Kakashi knew.

_This one was strong._

Said enemy was not dressed in the normal shinobi garbs of the Iwakagure, but in a customised outfit that vaguely resembled a yukata. The forehead protector of the Hidden rock was worn normally horizontal across his forehead, leaving a blonde bang in front of his face. His long hair was worn naturally, with no additional bands or clips. It kind of reminded him of that _what's-her-name-again_ student of Asuma's, only more skilled.

His standard weaponry ranged from shuriken to rock jutsus, but Kakashi noted that his arsenal included an enormous amount of explosives. They were flung at strategic intervals, and such was his skill that Kakashi almost lost an arm to one that stuck to the fabric of his sleeve.

How it did, however, Kakashi couldn't tell. His enemy was throwing more bombs at inhuman speeds, rendering Kakashi unable to counter.

Wave after wave of bombs came flying, but Kakashi's Sharingan made it chicken feet to avoid them, and he deflected some that strayed too close to the hospital with his own throwing weapons.

And just then, Hatake Kakashi saw his chance.

A stray kunai had dropped upon one of the bombs as it flew out of the enemy's hand, exploding just in front of the stunned rock-nin. Kakashi silently thanked the owner of that throwing knife, and then dove into the ground, letting the soil envelope him.

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu"

Near the now confused enemy, Kakashi leapt up with all his might, then grasped the rock-nin's leg firmly as gravity and chakra pulled them back down into the ground. That done, Kakashi jumped out once more into the clearing, hands already prepared for the finishing blow.

"Doton: Retsudotensho"

Around the 'decapitated' ninja, the ground began to crack, and then started to grind loudly as rock was forced against rock, soil against soil. But where Kakashi expected a scream, there was silence.

"Hmph" was the only sound made by the still trapped ninja. He smirked.

"Shit!" Kakashi jumped backwards, just in time to avoid the crumbling ground beneath him. He had not expected it, had not expected the enemy to be able to use a jutsu in that condition.

_His hands... should not.. cannot form seals ... how could he..._

The Konoha Shinobi's answer came in the form of raised left arm, one that was badly scarred and marred by the explosion. The gloves that once covered this hand had been blasted apart, and Kakashi could see very well the reason for the enemy's escape.

"You..."

"Very clever. Unfortunately, this is your end!" A tongue extended out of that same palm, bringing forth a lump of grey matter that Kakashi could now identify as clay, for this one was at least 10 times larger and more intricate than the previous pellets that bombarded Kakashi.

"Die, Konoha!" cried the ninja. There was a wry smile on his face as the clay expanded amidst a cloud of smoke.

* * *

"Obito-kun, your eyes..." 

"Yes... this seems to be the Sharingan..." muttered Obito, raising both hands before him, turning them in all directions as if looking at his blood vessels; which, as a matter of fact, was exactly what he was doing, " I can see the chakra flow clearly."

The smirk on the boy's face grew wider by the second, and his joy was such that Obito was seemingly oblivious to his still bleeding right shoulder. For a moment, Rin Inuzuka had been scared out of her wits, but now she managed to sigh in relieve as she gathered up chakra on her palms.

"Sit up Obito-kun... I'm going to heal you now."

The boy did as instructed, and soon all traces of his injury disappeared, leaving only a minor scar. Rin had wanted to dress his wound properly, in case it opened again, but decided against it Obito was already impatient to return to the battle. Rin flashed an 'ok' sign at Umeko Yamanaka next to her, and the latter instantly rushed off to join the battle, seeing that they needed no more protection.

Uchiha Obito stood up, and looked towards the forest once more, scanning for the enemy. The view of the forest with the Sharingan activated was indeed different, and Obito whooped with joy once more as he saw things that he once couldn't.

Pointing towards the forest, where he knew the enemy was hiding, he declared, "It's my turn now to protect my friends!"

_Just you wait, Rin-Chan, Sakura-chan. I__'__m going to be the best ninja you'__ve ever__ laid your eyes on._

* * *

Not very good,ya. I apologise for this poor installment, but the important part's ahead. I should publish that soon, since ideas are already swimming in my head. watch out for it! 


	9. Foreshadowing

This ones a mega big essay, to make up for lost time during the last few weeks. I've been working hard on it, and do trust me when i say I've rewrote it a gazillion times. Reason why i uploaded today is because i had a math test in the morning, hence was not able to upload before tonight.

I noe it puts some people off because of its length, but I ASSURE you that's its good, so please take some time off and read. You won't regret. Once again, please R&R. I haven't been getting much reviews, so its abit sad... Haha

Anyways, thanks to everyone who have done so, and do continue to support me. THANKS!

* * *

A deathly breeze blew across the land, scattering dead leaves all over the dirt. These leaves rustled despite being dead, and the still green foliage swayed in the wind, branches dancing in the twilight. 

There was silence, and to the untrained ear one would hear naught except for the gale; for even cicadas and nocturnal birds dared not leave their nests.

The murderous intent was too consuming...

Silence...

Then a flash of sparks, the clang of metal against metal.

Wave after wave of shuriken came flying, but none met their target. Silently, some embedded themselves in branches; others were stopped more noisily as they reflected off giant windmill shurikens that the enemy had thrown.

Arashi sighed, and loosed another few shuriken from his palm, sending them into dark oblivion roughly where the enemy would be. He hadn't fought such a tough enemy in ages, and was ill prepared for this challenge in front of him. Yes, he was an active member in the frontlines of the Konoha defence, and for the past 6 months had been fighting with his comrades, often facing foes who outnumbered them in unimaginable numbers.

There was once he had faced 50 enemies by a quaking mountainside, and slaughtered them one by one, all in the blink of an eye...

But this was different, he knew, and knew too well from the start, when he had caught a glimpse of those ruby pupils. The Jounin had, for a moment, doubted the genuinity of those eyes, but all doubts left his head in a flash a second later, when the enemy had almost killed the pink haired shinobi in his team.

Murdered her under their noses.

Even he was ill prepared for the strike, and could not react in time.

_What would happen if Obito hadn't...?_

He couldn't bear to think, instead focusing his energies upon this enemy before him. He was most definitely a member of the Uchiha clan, although how he became the enemy was beyond Arashi. That, plus the fact that he had extreme skills that nearly paralleled Arashi's own, made the enemy a huge pain in the butt.

With a sigh, he clasped his hands together and performed a quick array of hand seals.

Then, he was gone.

* * *

By now, the showers of shuriken had already created a graveyard of scrap metal, lying in all imaginable positions throughout the almost pitch dark forest. A wrong step would have been costly, and just falling off the branches of the trees may result in a bloody death. Yet these ninja fought on silently, fearlessly, as if the shuriken were not there at all. Their fluid dashes and movements seemed to cut a imaginary path through this impregnable route, and they did it almost instinctively. 

At the heart of this battle lay one single shinobi. A rouge shinobi whom had long since severed ties with his village. Armed with skills honed with years of training, with a katana honed with years of sparring and eyes honed with years of burning vengeance, Uchiha Sasuke was a fighter with whom few can compare.

Sasuke avoided yet another shuriken, and then launched himself towards the source of the attack. Within split seconds, he could spot his enemy, thanks to sharingan enhanced vision, whom had long flowing blonde hair. In the darkness, Sasuke could not see her features finely, but he could see the fear showing in her; the almost unseen shivers, the widened eyes, the half opened mouth.

The Uchiha swooped down onto his target...

when a kunai darted into sight, missing Sasuke by a bit. In a nanosecond later, so fast that the Sharingan barely registered the movement, a Konoha shinobi whom Sasuke did not recognise flickered into view, as if teleported. Said ninja raised his kunai...and missed Sasuke completely.

"chi... I missed..." The Jounin muttered obviously.

But Sasuke was no longer there. The Uchiha had sent himself plummeting towards the ground, knowing full well he was at a disadvantage. He had seen tougher enemies, stronger foes than this one, but could not register the amazing speed he had just witnessed. It was beyond the "shunshin no jutsu" that he commonly saw, much faster than that.

Sasuke was prepared for most all kinds of combat; the 3 years with Orochimaru had saw to that. He hadn't freaked out when he first met the members of Hebi, nor did he withdraw when two members of the Akatsuki faced him.

_This one __will be no ex__ception_, decided Sasuke, and started formulating a plan in his mind.

* * *

A/N: This is new, and I've never seen any authors place a large chunk of author's notes in the middle of their story before, (except maybe lemon warnings) but I'm gonna do just that. 

Basically, this is an update of the Sasuke vs. six man team fight.

Sasuke and the Yondaime just fought, and they are rather near each other, somewhere in the forest. Sasuke is at the forest floor, but i don't imagine him staying there very long. Same can be said for the Yondaime. Around the area, not too far, but a significant distance away, are Kakashi and Sakura.

Do bear in mind that this Kakashi is still very much a loner, though I've added in elements (see previous chapters) to alter that abit. This will come in very handy for the rest of this mega chapter, which is the accumulation of me hard work. (BTW i DID want to segment it into many chapters, but just look at the previous chapter... any more segregation and i think the story will lose its juice.)

Umeko is catching up to them; remember how she left once Rin gave thumbs up? And Obito and Rin are still far behind.

Ok. Now read on for more. There's gonna be chidori, sharingan, summons, rasengan, and kage Bunshins and c2 bombs waiting. From the next sentence on, you've get to see what i feel is the biggest plot development for this story thus far ... nyah nyah.

* * *

Perched atop a sturdy oak, Hatake Kakashi was leaning back into the shadows, hiding in a branch that was particularly thick with foliage. Like a stone, Kakashi stayed still, frozen into place by sheer discipline drilled by years of training. He breathed slowly, releasing his breath in small spurts that he knew were inaudible to the human ear. 

_Become one __with__ the nature, _his dad had taught him, _a__ shinobi must leave no traces._

But as perfect as his camouflage could be, Kakashi was facing a hell lot of turmoil within. It didn't help to remember those teachings of his father's, now they worked against him, disrupting his focus. Even in the face of the enemy, Kakashi no longer felt agile, no longer felt confident. It was unlike him, but ever since Obito had spoken of his father, Kakashi's life took a dip for the worst.

_And that guy too..._

Squatting beside him, a kunai hanging uselessly from her left hand was Haruno Sakura. She, too, was facing turmoil that rose in huge waves within her, not like that of Kakashi's.

Sakura was feeling déjà vu all over again, for like the umpteenth time in the last two days. Difference was, this one involved Sasuke himself, which made things worst. Sasuke, as Sakura realised, had tried to kill her like he did Naruto. That thought provoked profound silence from Sakura.

She didn't know what to make of it, what it meant.

Even Inner Sakura was being quiet.

Now _that's_ eerie.

And so this unlikely couple stood silently atop a giant oak, deep in thought. So deep were they in thought that they had not noticed a shadow slink up their tree, silently, inching towards them.

When they noticed, it had been too late...

* * *

Miles away, back in the village of Konohagakure; the young boy's future counterpart was busy evading a horde of clay bees, sent its way by the Rock Jounin. 

"Hahaha... now die! After all, ART IS A BANG!" shouted the same Jounin, holding his hands up once more.

"KATSU!"

Three bees near Kakashi detonated, but the leaf shinobi anticipated this, and ducked to the ground before rolling to safety, two other ninjas were not as lucky, however, and the horde that was swarming near them exploded right in their faces.

"That could have been me ..." sighed Kakashi, feeling the first signs of fatigue in his bones. His Sharingan ached, but he knew he had to last a little longer.

He wasn't ready. The time had not come.

Meanwhile, he tossed a few more throwing weapons and groaned when he felt his hand touching the nylon base of his kunai pouch. He hadn't had the time to replenish his shurikens since yesterday, and now had to face the full consequences.

"What are you waiting for?!" Have a taste of my ultimate homing art!" came the same hedonistic voice. The rock-nin was now airborne, but Kakashi was not surprised. After all, he knew who this was. And he knew how to counter this ninja.

All he needed was a little more time.

The Rock-nin pressed his palm forward in the direction of Kakashi, and a large clay ball shot out of the openings. Now utterly 'shuriken-less', Kakashi could do naught but jump into the air, where he found himself in a dire situation due to 3 reasons:

1) The clay ball had rebounded off the concrete pavement and was now hurtling through the air towards Kakashi.

2) Another clay ball had been shot out, this time from above.

3) He may know how to fly through the air, but he didn't know how to steer mid-air.

_Damn. And all I needed was a little more time too..._

"Suiton: Suijinh -"

The two missiles met in mid-air to form a humongous explosion that tore off the fencing of the Konoha Hospital.

* * *

Change of plans. I split both parts into 2 chapters, but both will be posted today. Ill finish it in about another hour's time. watch out 


	10. In the heat of battle

Ok. I must apologise for saying i was going to upload in an hour. I was lazy and fell asleep, yes, right here at my com. I'm really very very sorry. 

Continue to r&r!

* * *

_Am I ... Am I__ in hell?_

Hatake Kakashi stuck a hand outwards, feeling out for his surroundings. Apparently, hell was pitch dark, a little damp, moist and humid. It was hot and... Kakashi groaned when he felt something. It was hot, and sticky, leaving wet substances onto his hand.

This was no hell.

It was worse.

"Jiraiya-sama? Can you let me out?"

As soon as he said that, Kakashi felt the cool night gale once more, as his "hell" disappeared in a puff of smoke. But the wet sticky substance remained, staining his only outfit.

"Haha, sorry boy! It's a ... um ... side effect," said the white haired shinobi, who had his back facing Kakashi. Kakashi noted how the former was in his armoured outfit, and wondered to himself how long it had been since he saw the frog hermit in this garb.

Jiraiya raised his hand to block a shuriken that was headed towards Kakashi, who was sitting down on what appeared Kakashi as the back of a large frog. Well, for a frog he wasn't particularly large, being less than a quarter the size of Frog Boss Gamabunta, but was moving fast enough to avoid the clay bombs that were being fired by the chasing Rock Jounin.

"Well, thanks anyways. Your frog stomach -"

"It's technically an oesophagus." Corrected the self proclaimed frog expert.

"... Oesophagus saved me. How are things at the gate?"

"Going fine. But so are the enemies. I think the Rock somehow found out that Arashi left for them this morning. They seemed to have sent ALL of their troops here."

"Hmm." The thought was worrying.

"What's the plan," piqued the Frog-hermit.

"He's a bombs expert. All the creatures he makes can be detonated."

"Saw that." Said Jiraiya , urging the frog to leap faster as another clay bomb exploded very close to the moving amphibian, far too close for comfort.

"Likely to be s-class. His name should be Deidara."

"How'd you know his name?"

"Long story..."

* * *

"OW! Damn you, it hurts!" roared Umeko, prompting Kakashi to stare and Sakura to clamp a hand over the kunoichi's mouth.

"Shut up for a moment, would you," called Sakura, softly telling off the also 17 year old kunoichi in her arms. The pink haired chunin felt Umeko relax under her grip, then continued, "You did sneak up on us and whack our heads." Cooed Sakura.

Umeko shifted guiltily and looked up to see a large bump swelling above Sakura's and Kakashi's head.

"Sorry, lemme fix that for – AHHHH"

The girls shrieked as Hatake Kakashi pushed them both downwards, such that they landed near the trunk some 3 metres away, Kakashi kneeling over the both them. Sakura started to protest, but her words were drowned by an explosion from above Kakashi, scattering red hot ashes around the area. The spot where they were previously was reduced to a pile of smouldering carbon, casting glows around the originally dark forest.

"You..."

In the firelight, the once cold silver haired boy suddenly seemed more brilliant, and his widening eyes seemed to convey nothing but pure concern. He seemed to... glow.

"Getting hot here, are we, Sakura..."

_That voice!_

A shiver ran itself down Sakura's spine, but Umeko had the grace to not to say so. Kakashi, well, didn't speak as usual. As it was, the trio stood up, facing the young man standing in the ashes.

Sasuke too, was 'glowing' in the flames, but Sakura didn't feel anything. There was no kindness, no concern. There was no love, nor the faintest bit of familiarity.

Sasuke stared.

Sakura stared in return.

This time, she solemnly swore, she would not falter and would defeat Sasuke to bring him back to Konoha.

_Hell YEAH!_ thought Inner Sakura.

"You... that means... Arashi sempai..." muttered Umeko, nearing tears.

"Yes..." The Uchiha smiled, "and that means there's no one to protect you from this."

There was sharp screech in the air as Uchiha Sasuke withdrew his chokuto from its sheath with painstaking speed.

The Kusanagi glowed in the midnight sky. Again.

The Uchiha brought it downwards in a swift stroke, straightening it such that it paralleled the ground, tip towards the three.

Or more specifically, Sakura.

"I...I'll stop him," said Yamanaka Umeko, rubbing away the last of her tears. Bringing her hands together, Umeko formed a hand seal in front of her, and Sakura need not see it to know what it was.

"I'll distract him for you." Said Sakura, and the girls exchanged a nod. Sakura put on her gloves, and clenched her fists.

_For team seven, Sasuke, I'll do it for us._

"No. Stay here." A hand was raised in front of Sakura. "I'll do it."

* * *

"Die!" screamed the Rock-nin, "Doton: Iwayado Kuzushi"

The impending 'rockslide' of concrete and mud would have killed an incoming Jiraiya, but a moment later the Rock Jounin could see too well that his attacked had been neutralised.

By the same attack.

Sharingan fully activated, Hatake Kakashi had copied the jutsu seal for seal, and had performed it the exact same moment as his enemy did. Concrete crashed against concrete and lodged together, allowing Jiraiya to close in on the enemy...

"Hari Tobi"

The hair on the hermit's back extended, and wrapped around said ninja in a protective fashion. Spikes that were formed launched themselves towards the rock ninja and lodged themselves... in a mud barrier that was formed just in time.

"Doton: Doyruheki"

"Katon: Karyu Endan"

A stream of hot flames erupted from the Kakashi's mouth, engulfing the enemy from his unprotected back. This time, the rock-nin was unprepared, and escaped with heavily wounds...

"That ...can't be"

"OMFG! ITS A SHE!" shouted Jiraiya, whose expression changed almost immediately. Perversion took over as he lost all sense of combat, focusing on the cleavage that was exposed thanks to Kakashi's Jutsu. The blood from Jiraiya nose could have filled a river.

"This ...isn't Deidara?"

* * *

Haruno Sakura watched in awe as a ball of lightning gathered around the boy's hand, enveloping it in a white light. Sweat and blood mixed, and a single bead dropped from his forehead onto his hand, fizzing upon contact with the electricity. 

_Isn't that... __Kakashi-sensei's jutsu?_

"CHIDORI!" screamed Hatake Kakashi; his voice only being outdone by the ensuing shriek of the lightning itself. Pacing himself, Kakashi rushed forth, leaving a blazing trail of cracked soil and wooden splinters in his wake. Sakura and Umeko cried and raised their hands protectively as the debris flew all over them.

But Uchiha Sasuke didn't budge one bit; didn't widen his eyes in fear or shock. Instead, he stood unmoving; Kusanagi still straightened in front of him.

"Chidori Nagashi!"

As if all the pandemonium was not enough, the screech that emitted from all over Uchiha Sasuke worsened it. Umeko and Sakura placed their hands to their ears; even Kakashi winced and slowed down.

"NO!" screamed Sakura. But it was too late. Far too late.

The chidori blade was already extending as the lighting gathered from Sasuke and channelled into the Kusanagi, forming a yellow spear of light.

Kakashi kept running.

It was then evident to Sakura, that he could not see what was happening. Indeed, the speed at which Kakashi was running was already giving him tunnel vision, and to Kakashi the only thing that was visible was the enemy's face.

Kakashi kept running, and death was closing in...

"Die!Traitor!" Sakura looked up to see Uchiha Obito swoop down from a branch above, attempting to land a punch on Sasuke.

"He did it!" shouted Umeko!

But it was not be. Immediately, electricity flowed from Sasuke to Obito as Chidori Nagashi worked its way up Obito's nervous system, effectively paralysing him from his hand, which was now stuck immobile to Sasuke's chest.

Not the best of places. Sakura almost puked.

But it was enough, and Obito's still mobile legs swung itself upwards, and Obito's whole body moved, rotating on his hand as a pivot. His right leg was caught by Sasuke's free arm, but that still left another leg, which spun over Sasuke's head... and landed squarely on the Kusanagi.

Obito screamed as some 100,000 volts of pure lightning channelled itself up the boy's left leg.

The chidori blade stopped extending, and Kakashi continued his path, which was now safe due to Obito's intervention. But that was not all Sasuke was capable of. A snap of his left wrist saw Obito's neck grasped firmly in his palm.

_The white fang of Konoha__ was a hero!_

_Oh, and I agree with Obito. Hatake Sakumo did the right thing..._

Flashbacks suddenly returned to Kakashi's mind, and Kakashi stopped in his tracks.

"Com...ple..lete ... the mi..mission... quick," urged Obito.

Kakashi hesitated, but Sasuke was not one to wait. Instead, he flung Obito through the air like confetti, leaving a shocked Kakashi to grab hold of him. Blood splattered all over the boys as electricity opened old wounds and created new ones.

Sakura and Umeko ran forth.

Uchiha Sasuke replaced his chokuto, and then moved to end this battle, placing both hands together in the sign of the tiger.

"Katon: Gokaky-"

He stopped as cold metal bit into the back of his neck.

"You again..."

* * *

R&R! this battle is going to last for either 1 or 2 chapters. if its getting two long and sickening, do tell. ill try to improve. I write long battle scenes becoz i feel short ones aren't enough to encapsulate action and emotion. just look at the sakura/chiyo vs sasori battle and compare it to the kankuro vs sasori battle. get my drift? yea. but writing is much longer so bear with me. btw im trying to throw in allot of emotion, tell me if it still is too little. I'll probably be more obvious once the battle ends and sakura gets time to contemplate obito's and kakashi's saving her. heh heh, triangle lurve warning.

Btw, look forward to the next one. there will be a summoning battle as i promised, hence manda and gamabunta will be making an appearance XD. **Oh, can i have ur opinion on whether i shud give sakura the ability to summon katsuya? **it'll make a great difference.

Cheers

* * *


	11. First Blood

I have had plans to write a whole apologetic essay for delaying this, and till now i still dunno how best to make up for my lagness. All i can do is to write more, and write better. R&R and thanks for ye utmost support.

Chapter 11 – First blood

* * *

"Go."

A simple command.

Hatake Kakashi stood up to leave, heaving his injured teammate over his shoulder. He gave one last glance at his sensei and then... stood aground, one leg forward as if ready to move, yet totally stationary as his eyes looked straight at his mentor.

It was unlike the boy to be so hesitant, to be so, in a manner of speaking, rebellious. Yes, he had wrestled with his sensei with regards to whether he could use the Chidori, but even then Kakashi had only done so after his sensei had delegated leadership to him. To not follow a direct order was simply astounding.

Beside Kakashi, Rin and Umeko stood dumbstruck, while Sakura looked on, mildly interested, her focus still pretty much on the injured boy whom she was treating.

Arashi noted this change too, for he glared once more at Kakashi before returning his full attention to the shinobi in front of him when the Uchiha snorted.

"Ka..." Rin opened her mouth feebly as if to say something, but her voice failed her.

Kakashi ignored her, staring straight at the two men as memories of yesterday's brawl flooded into Kakashi's brain, and he looked back at the profusely bleeding Obito.

Obito, whose stupidity loosened him up a couple of times...,

Obito, whose rivalry with Kakashi gave him a reason to train harder...,

Obito, whose friendship could never and can never, be replaced...,

Obito, whose scolding could awake thoughts buried deeply inside Kakashi's mind...,

Obito, who had saved his life this night...,

Obito, who –

"Wham!"

A gut-wrenching punch came flying into Kakashi's, erm, gut, sending him tumbling across the branches and shurikens to land some 100 metres away, landing almost prone against the lone trunk of the great oak. The boy clutched his recently almost ruptured stomach, and then tilted his head to face his attacker - Haruno Sakura, who now had Obito slung over her shoulder

There was shock written against the faces of the rest of the Konoha ninja, and Uchiha Sasuke simply looked on bemusedly, making no attempt to use this confusion to attack his enemies.

"What was... was," spat Kakashi, holding down his sore stomach, "that for..."

"Let's go." Whispered Sakura, leaping over to his side. She cast one last glance at the Uchiha, then picked up the struggling Kakashi and flew off, the other two rushing along in her wake.

* * *

"..."

"..."

Neither of the remaining two spoke, nor made an attempt to. From within the forest clearing seemed to emit a profound silence, the centre of which stood both men. Around them, flames from the earlier Katon jutsu had died down, and the embers that glowed from within the toasted branches dimmed by the minute.

They watched the last glowing splint burnt out, leaving behind a smoke trail almost invisible in the night sky.

"Who are you?" inquired Arashi, pressing the kunai with a renewed sense of urgency. There was a cut on the Uchiha's neck, and a trickle of blood oozed down the kunai.

A pair of ruby eyes closed together, and then the Uchiha spoke.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Is that so?" Arashi whispered, then chuckled as his face formed the faintest resemblance of a smile, "Such a strong Uchiha, and not from Konoha. Interesting."

The blonde Jounin raised his free hand, and ruffled his spiky hair a little.

"Well, it's a pity, but ..." His tone darkened. "I will have to ... kill you."

The kunai flashed, and dark crimson blood splattered all over the ground. A horrified expression played itself onto the Uchiha's face, and he fell... lower... lower...

The corpse never touched the floor.

Instead, it darkened, and then split into a multitude of snakes, which scattered across the ground, slithering away into the night sky.

"What!" shouted a shocked Arashi, who appeared to be unaware of this situation.

_Of course... but why this__ form_

The Jounin launched himself into the air, and then tossed a number of projectiles at the snakes, all of which hissed upon being impaled... and burst apart to reform into a million needles that shot back at Arashi from all sides. But the Yellow Flash was ready and had already performed his jutsu, becoming a blur that danced around the needles shower, deflecting most and avoiding all.

Arashi landed neatly on the forest floor, which had been littered by millions of needles and hundreds of other metallic weapons – a graveyard of metal.

_Not bad at all... __hmm?_

Uchiha Sasuke had allowed himself to re-manifest.

It was not his first time against an Uchiha, but it still took Arashi a lot of discipline not to start, and rotate on the spot to face what felt like a gigantic pair of sharingan eyes, glaring unmovingly, unyieldingly at the Jounin. Upon staring straight first at those eyes, Arashi felt his limbs being constricted and rooted to place, which he saw to be another few snakes that had sprouted from the darkness.

Uchiha Sasuke smiled, and ran his blade through the chest cavity of his enemy.

* * *

Let us pray for the safety of Arashi... lol. Im not that religious, but that's beside the point. Actually, you can tell the fate of the two if you read Naruto chapter 240 and 363 closely. Analysing their jutsus will let you noe something that formed the basis of this part of the fanfic. 

Anyways, the main story is Kakashi and Kakashi, so i might have Arashi die... and have Orochimaru become Yondaime! (Horrors!) That's wad the snake guy wanted anyways. Oh, and he's still in Konoha, it was mentioned somewhere he got furious with Sarutobi for the Yondaime election and left, so technically he's still slinking in the Leaf somewhere...

Btw, im kind of portraying Kakashi like Sai, do note that both have similarities in the fact that they lack social experience ( this refers to teen Kakashi, who just woke up after Obito scolded him). You simply can't expect him to make all the right decisions after that wake-up call.

Once again, thanks for ALL ur support, i hope you still do even after this 1 month hiatus. It's likely i will be posting in a week or two, my exams are still very much active. Singaporean students are so stressed... ah...

Keep watching out!


	12. The beginning of the end

Chapter 12 – The beginning of the end.

"Good bye...Yondaime." said Uchiha Sasuke, dissipating the genjutsu to reveal the morning rays of light shining into the clearing.

There was sarcasm in his tone that Arashi couldn't quite pick up, though he had no idea whatsoever about the Yondaime portion of the conversation. You couldn't quite blame him however, for he was a dying man whose lungs had just been pierced by what was possibly the world's most electrifying and shocking blade.

Except that he wasn't quite dying.

It took only a while for Uchiha Sasuke to realise his error, but by the time he did, another kunai had already found its way around Sasuke's neck, the tip glistening in the sunlight millimetres away from his windpipe. It was to the Uchiha's credit that he did not flinch one bit, standing every bit as frozen as an ice cube. But a bead of sweat rolled down Sasuke's jaw line, and dripped onto the edge of the kunai.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel betrayed by his perspiration.

"You..." he started, careful not to cut his throat apart by accident, "how?"

But the Yellow flash of Konoha kept silent, and allowed Sasuke to work out the details for himself.

"You can... teleport between dimensions and between times, so you... were never in the genjutsu?"

"You've got the basics," replied Arashi, "but I was in the genjutsu for a long while... quite a strong one, I must say, for it took a lot of chakra to pull away from this dimension right before you 'killed me' and then back again using my seal."

"Seal?"

Arashi smiled and tapped Sasuke's chokuto, which was now back in its sheath. A swift tug from the blonde and the blade came out once more, revealing its polished splendour, as well as what was now a row of prominent black characters that ran across the midsection of the blade.

* * *

_Sasuke avoided yet another shuriken, and then launched himself towards the source of the attack. Within split seconds, he could spot his enemy, thanks to sharingan enhanced vision, whom had long flowing blonde hair. In the darkness, Sasuke could not see her features finely, but he could see the fear showing in her; the almost unseen shivers, the widened eyes, the half opened mouth._

_The Uchiha swooped down onto his target..._

_when__ a kunai darted into sight, missing Sasuke by a bit. In a nanosecond later, so fast that the Sharingan barely registered the movement, a Konoha shinobi whom Sasuke did not recognise flickered into view, as if teleported. Said ninja raised his kunai...and missed Sasuke completely.  
_

* * *

"That's when..." 

"Yeah, though i missed. Was planning to place my teleportation seal on your body though," said Arashi, smiling ruefully at the thought. His azure eyes seemed to twinkle for a moment and then his face darkened once more.

"I've corrected that one mistake, Sasuke," he said, positioning the Kusanagi against Sasuke's spine and retrieving his kunai. It doesn't matter if the Katana is separated from you."

"I'll still find you."

* * *

Back in Konohagakure, the older Hatake Kakashi noted to himself that an orange tint had began rising from behind the stone Hokage faces, but remained focused upon his airborne enemy as their three-way battle downplayed into a kind of heated argument even when buildings continued to collapse around them. 

Beside him, the white haired Jiraiya had found himself some cotton buds to stuff his nostrils with, but they flew out once more when he sneaked another peek at the kunoichi, who was now covering herself with the still intact back of her jacket. The author-to-be stuffed two fingers up his nostrils; he couldn't find any more cloth in his pouch.

"Why... why an all out assault?" questioned Kakashi, raising a kunai to deflect an oncoming shuriken. It clattered harmlessly to the side as the rock-nin answered.

"Why? You ask me why?" she roared, although it sounded barely a whisper amidst all the chaos, "Who were the ones who came and set our nation's granary and food reserves on fire? Who were the ones who made our daimyo initiate the demilitarisation of our village and increase their reliance on police forces?" Kakashi winced as the kunoichi killed a rather unfortunate member of the Konoha army.

"But we never ..." began Kakashi, only to be stopped by the kunoichi again.

"NEVER? WHO WERE THE ONES WHO SENT THEIR BEST NINJA TO DESTROY US LAST NIGHT? DIE!" She screamed, sending some twenty odd explosives into the air towards Konoha-nin.

Kakashi quietened down as he avoided one of the clay bombs and flung out a few pebbles or stones to detonate the rest before they hit their targets, half-admitting that the Hokage had sent his Arashi-sensei to seek out their village. However, he had most definitely not remembered any attempts from Konoha (be it 'this time' or the previous) to attack the Iwagakure unprovokedly. At any rate, it seemed to Kakashi that this particular ninja no longer saw reason, and was most definitely not the Akatsuki Deidara; despite the similarities... it wouldn't help him or the village to try to capture her alive anymore.

_In that case...__ it's time to end this._

Kakashi moved his hands over a few hand seals, and then motioned to the still nose bleeding Jiraiya to cover him. There was a pregnant pause as Kakashi stopped to draw breath, his sharingan trained upon that one spot he meant to hit.

"Raiyari!"

An orb of blue and white lightning gathered in his hand, and then seemed to self compress itself such that it became no bigger than the width of his wrist, though it seemed to extend vertically such that it enveloped his whole arm in white chakra. His left hand went up and cupped his right shoulder joint, offering support.

A second later Hatake Kakashi had already left, in his wake ran a long yet fine line of destruction, creating a deep valley that was no wider than a finger, yet deeper than the length of a human body. His Sharingan eye provided the insight much required, and everything seemed to slow as the Leaf ninja raced upwards, leaping above (and slicing them in the process) a few trees and wrecked buildings as he came within 10 metres of his enemy ... and then he flung his right arm forwards.

The lightning then raced across the sky, shooting outwards like a spear to hit her incoming kunai, which were electrocuted into changing their directions, and beyond...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed the rock-nin, and for several seconds some five hundred odd ninja from both Iwa and Konoha ignored their own duels to watch the lightning spear impale the kunoichi and several others who were unlucky enough to be in the way of the spear of electricity.

"Shit," muttered Kakashi, leaping back on the ground and landing in a cloud of smoke, "I missed."

Indeed, some of the other ninjas died instantly as the lightning struck some vital part of their body or another, but that Kunoichi had been lucky to get shot in the arm. One could easily see that her right arm was toast, but already she had her left in a one handed sign of the tiger, even as she fell from her clay steed.

"KATSU!"

Light stronger than the rays that were peeking out from behind the Hokage faces emitted from the dying kunoichi, making her skin seem as if it were transluscent... and there was a gigantic explosion that quickly grew outwards as she kept falling ... falling...

* * *

Well, thanks for all those reviews, please keep them coming! (More! More!) 

This chapter introduces one orginal jutsu – Raiyari, though it's pretty much based on Raikiri. It's supposed to be an extremely advanced version, which can shoot out like a spear and pierce through multiple targets, killing them. It's more focused and all, so although small it can fry ur entire arm if ur hand was hit, and has range capabilities. Yari means spear.

Besides that, yes, I've never intended Orochimaru to be Yondaime – i won't risk it – and so Arashi lives. (I think he's freaking awesome too!)This is the last battle sequence for the Yondaime, so the next time you see em he'll be in the village.

Hokage? Maybe.

Sasuke dies? Maybe.

End of Konoha? Maybe.

Btw I'm reserving the summons fight for later, and yes there will be Katsuya, i quite agree that Katsuya cannot be missing, though it might not be Sakura summoning (I hear people going "Its Tsunade!"). Keep watching out. There's more trouble brewing.

Even in peace.


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